


All is Fair in Hope and Despair

by hubbywriter12



Category: Assassination Classroom, Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Aletrnate Universe, Crime, Despair, Gen, Hope, Mystery, School Life of Mutual Killing, Suspense, Talents, slow progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 20:17:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7121101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hubbywriter12/pseuds/hubbywriter12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa Shiota, SHSL Elementary Tutor, finds out that they're unbelievably trapped inside a small hotel with other 15 students of Hope's Peak Academy. What's more unbelievable is that the only one who has much knowledge of the situation they're in is a monochrome bear. The bear says that the only way out of this hotel was to kill a fellow classmate without getting caught. Nagisa is sure he won't be committing such a dark crime despite the situation they're in. But what about the others though?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 00: Prologue

**Chapter 00**

_I remember standing in front of an airplane, waiting patiently to get on board, be a passenger on flight. But, you see, I’m not just any passenger who’s going to fly somewhere. I’m a student. I’m a super high school level student, on my way to go to the most prestigious school in Japan- maybe even in the whole world. I could feel the excitement bubbling in my chest, as if I’m a balloon filled with helium. If there’s too much inside me, I could possibly explode. But at the same time, underneath that bubbling excitement was a gurgling anxiety. I… I hope everything will go well. This is the day where I will be heading to my new school. And once I enter this academy, I can be known for my talent. I can be known as a student of Hope’s Peak Academy, and not just some boy who looked like a girl; not just a boy, who has a despairing family background; not just a boy, who was once lost, and was now found. Found by this hope-filling academy._

_I could hear chatters around me, but no person had entered my view. I was too focused on the big aircraft in front of me. When I get on this airplane, I’ll be on my way to my future._

_Too bad though. I was just admiring the airplane in front of me, thinking about my new school and future, and all of a sudden…_

_I blacked out._

* * *

 

“He’s stirring.”

The feminine voice that piped up beside him was the first clearest thing he has ever heard once he woke up. He was picking bits and pieces of conversations when he was starting to gain consciousness, but the words coming from his surrounding were all jumbled that he didn’t understand them. He could feel his body tense and numb, probably from sitting very long. There were murmurs again, female and male alike, he figures. But he still didn’t understand them. Once he heard a loud voice just from behind him, a shot of pain went through his head like a raging storm entered his skull. His hand automatically flew to his forehead as he leans forward in an attempt to stand up. A warm hand landed on his chest to stop him.

“I’ll go get some water,” a male person’s voice enters his ears in a fluid moment. And then, footsteps padded on the ground.

“Let’s ask him some questions,” a female suggests beside him.

A finger lifts his right eyelid, and he opens his eyes wide instantly at the cold touch like the finger was previously held in front of an AC unit. The first thing he sees was a blue seat; a seat oddly similar to airplane seats. His vision adjusts slowly, and more blue seats came into his view. And then, something alarmingly red catches his eye. He looked to his left where a red-haired boy sat with his amber eyes examining his actions. Strangely enough, the redhead was wearing a casual smile as he looks at him. He looked at his right, and saw a green-haired girl sitting beside him with a curious look on her face. The hand that was resting on his chest belonged to hers.

“Why don’t we just start our introductions again, right now,” the redhead suggested lazily. In a moment, he noticed that the redhead was sitting on a window seat, and outside of the window, there was nothing interesting to see except for the fluffy clouds that seem to block the view from anything else. He looked to the other windows and saw the same thing: clouds. “So we don’t have to make it difficult for him.”

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” the green-haired girl responds with a radiating smile. She turns to him with that same smile and starts. “My name is Kaede Kayano, the **Ultimate Sweet Connoisseur**.”

His eyes slightly widened upon hearing her name. He’s heard of that name before. This girl is quite popular when it comes to Japanese sweet products. She’s the girl who started a food business somewhere in Kyoto when she was just fourteen years old, and now, her business had been a successful hit in the market. _She manages the Aguri Japanese Sweets store, doesn’t she?_ It’s a remarkable thing to know that someone so young could manage a big store that has franchises over the whole country. He tasted one of her bestselling pudding and he has to admit, some people are right. They say her products are like drugs: overwhelming and addicting.

She giggles at his expression. “You seem surprised, huh? Don’t worry, I get that a lot.”

He swallowed and nodded with uncertainty. _Am I supposed to introduce myself… or…?_

Kayano looks over to the redhead, who releases a silent huff from his seat. He turns himself to the redhead, who meets his eyes with an innocent-looking smile.

“Karma Akabane, **Ultimate Lucky Student**.”

 _Well that’s ironic_ , he thinks. The words “Karma” and “Lucky” aren’t the same. Still, the idea wasn’t important enough for him to get easily distracted, for he decides to introduce himself.

“Uh, my name’s Nagisa Shiota.” He meekly starts. Before he could continue, the redhead pipes up jokingly.

“Let me guess,” he says in a playful tone. “Ultimate Transgender?”

Kayano giggles in her seat at his joke.

Nagisa sighs with a small blush, but wasn’t quite affected by it. He was used to it after all. He was androgynous, no wonder Karma stated that. He didn’t take it personally though, because the playful tone was just a way to lighten up the mood around the students. Karma probably thought he was tensed in this questionable situation. _How did I even get in here?_

“Uhm, I’m actually the **Ultimate Elementary Tutor**.”

“You must love children. They’re adorable, aren’t they?” Kayano voices out as she looks at him with her same radiating smile.

Nagisa has to agree with that. Some kids he tutors are pretty adorable, and even though some of them were naughty and stubborn, it always made him happy that they’re eager to learn from him. He remembered the pink-haired girl who used to hate his guts. When she was entrusted to him, Nagisa knew that she was a troublemaker from the start. But the only cause of her attitude was because someone was bullying her. Her lowest subject was Math, and Nagisa, even when he’s the Ultimate Elementary Tutor, is not the smartest in that subject as well. They formed a bond, and when she started returning to him with higher scores, Nagisa always felt proud for her. They both learned many things from each other.

“Yeah, they are,” Nagisa answers truthfully with a small smile as well.

Padding footsteps was approaching them and Nagisa saw a new person to meet. A bottle of water was immediately handed to him. “Here,” the new boy starts. “Take this.”

The sight of the liquid in front of him made him realize how parched he is, and so, he takes it willingly and opens it. Setting it on his lips, he tilts the bottle and started gulping the water, downing it in one go.

“You’re pretty thirsty,” Karma notes aloud. He hears rustling noises until he finds out that the boy was offering him a mint gum. “Want some?”

He looked at it for a moment, before taking the bottle off of his mouth. Shaking his head as he clutches the empty bottle, he glances at Karma. “No, thanks. The water’s good enough for me.” Then he looks up at the new boy. Upon quick examination, he looked pretty simple and dressed in a casual tee and cargo pants. Nagisa thought of what his talent could possibly be before making a smile. “Thank you for the water…”

“Oh,” the boy utters as he realizes Nagisa was asking for his name. “Tomohito Sugino, **Ultimate Archer**. And you are?”

“Nagisa Shiota, Ultimate Elementary Tutor.”

“Nice to meet you, Shiota…kun. Shiota-kun.” Sugino had performed a quick scan on the blue-haired boy, and with Nagisa’s attire- which was a dark vest over a t-shirt with a character from the superhero movie “Sonic Ninja” and simple pants, a pair of sneakers as well-, it was easy to determine that Nagisa was a boy. Or so he thinks.

“Oh, you can… you can all call me by my first name,” the blue-haired boy declared. “I’m used to being called by that.”

“Then call me by my first name as well,” Karma says next. “Akabane’s just too long and boring.”

“Alright then,” Kayano starts. “Let’s introduce you to the others as well.”

Meeting other people won’t be a problem. It’s not like he had any problems remembering strangers’ names. The pain in his head was slowly going away, but he could still feel the drumming feeling in his skull when he thinks deeply about the situation. It was strange and confusing. _Just how did I get in here?_ He asks himself silently. He looks at Kayano quickly and voices out his question.

“Sorry, but… how did I get here?” pairs of eyes stared at him, so he tries again. “I… I don’t remember how I got in here. So… I wanna know what’s happening in here.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Sugino starts. “Actually, we don’t know how all of us got in here. The first one to wake up found out we were all in here, unconscious, and… all of us don’t remember getting in this plane as well. So some of us tried to ‘look for clues’ or something like that.”

“All of us?” Nagisa words out.

“Yep,” Karma responds casually as he pops in a mint gum.

“Alright then, now that that’s cleared,” Kayano stood up from her seat. “Let’s start getting you some new friends! I’ll tell you, we’ve got a unique set in here,” she says it in an eager tone that Nagisa found himself standing up as well. He watched Sugino go off to a circle formed by a few teenagers, and started to talk to them as well. Karma stayed on his seat, watching the clouds outside the aircraft. _He’s probably the type of boy who loves to_ _sky-watch_ , he thinks. Following the sweet connoisseur, they approach the nearest people to them, which are two boys. One wore round eyeglasses, wearing a uniform that reminded Nagisa of employees working at hospitals. The other had silver-colored hair that covered his ears. He didn’t stand out too much but something tells Nagisa that that information has something to do with his talent.

“Hey guys,” Kayano greets enthusiastically. The boy who wore eyeglasses made a curt nod at her then turned his attention to Nagisa.

“It’s the last kid,” Nagisa hears the silver-haired boy mutter under his breath before smiling at him. “Hey there…” his voice trails off when he eyes Nagisa’s attire. _Something tells me he’s trying to figure out my gender._

“I’m Nagisa Shiota, but you can call me by my first name… uh, I’m the Ultimate Elementary Tutor,” he says with a bow. When he stands up straight, he adds hastily. “And I’m a boy.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Kayano spoke with a giddy smile. “I could tell by his chest.”

“K-Kayano-san!” Nagisa blushes at her sudden statement. They just met each other a minute ago and she’s making comments about him like they’re close… not that it affected him. He’s used to being mistaken as a girl, but nobody ever said anything about his private parts… not that he considered his chest a private part. That would’ve been embarrassing if he noted that out loud.

The silver-haired boy makes a nervous and sheepish chuckle before nodding. “Yeah… I-I’m Sosuke Sugaya by the way, the **Ultimate Art Prodigy**.”

Nagisa nods. He doesn’t stand out from a crowd, but with his talent, he could attract attention with his fantastic paintings. Nagisa knows for sure, Sugaya is known for his creations. From Nagisa's knowledge, Sugaya was known to be a student who had low grades back in elementary and middle school. But due to his talent, he had gained popularity when he showed the other students his creations. Nagisa didn’t see the creations himself, but he has heard of it from the kids he tutors. Sugaya was known to be a good sculptor and a good painter. His hands are gifted, a kid says. He has the ability to turn trash into art. He wishes he could see the art prodigy’s creations.

Nagisa looks over to the other boy, who cleared his throat and pushed his eyeglasses back up to the bridge of his nose. “My name is Kotaro Takebayashi, and I am the **Ultimate Paramedic**.”

Nagisa has nothing more to say about him, but his role is pretty important and difficult. The sight of blood doesn’t scare Nagisa, but he’s the type who would panic when a person is in pain or in danger. Nagisa remembered an incident after a tutoring session with a blonde kid who accidentally tripped and twisted her ankle. Nagisa didn’t know how to respond at the crying child and started yelling at the nearest person, which was an old man riding on a bicycle. _Takebayashi_ , he figures, _must be type of person who acts calmly and independently when he encounters accidents. That’s a good thing to know._

“We’re gonna go meet other people,” Kayano states and grabs Nagisa’s hand. “See you later guys.”

Two nods from the two boys made it clear for them to go to the next nearest person, which was a girl who had a messy black shoulder-length hair sitting on an airplane seat, reading a pamphlet. Feeling a presence approaching her, her eyes started to avert from the pamphlet to the two approaching teenagers. Kayano smiled at her with a wave while Nagisa made an effort to make a small smile. She gave out a dark vibe with the way she looked at him, but Nagisa couldn’t tell her talent. _Ultimate Occult Member, perhaps? No, that’s ridiculous. Hope’s Peak scouts high school students who-_  he cuts his own train of thought, remembering that there’s an Ultimate Gangster and an Ultimate Bike Gang Leader in the school.

“Hello,” Kayano greets before looking back at Nagisa.

Nagisa parted his lips and spoke automatically. “I’m Nagisa Shiota, but you can call me by my first name. I’m the Ultimate Elementary Tutor… and I’m a boy.” Kayano grins at him, mentally stating that he just repeated what he said earlier.

The black-haired girl nods before looking back at her pamphlet. “Kirara Hazama,” Nagisa’s eyes slightly widened at her first name, but caught on with her next statement. “ **Ultimate Librarian**.”

Her title isn’t really attention-seeking. Nagisa thinks she likes it that way. She probably loves reading books, the scent of each pages and the letters on them. Maybe she’s even the type who likes dark and despairing stories. Nagisa often reads textbooks and comics, but light novels and fiction books doesn’t interest him. He glances at the pamphlet she’s reading and asks curiously. “What’s that?” He and Kayano had asked simultaneously.

“It’s an airplane pamphlet,” she responds without looking up at them. “ _’Be air wise’_ , it says. Everything about safety precautions and safety measures are written here. But it doesn’t state the name of this airline, or who works in here.” She scoffs. “The situation we’re in is quite suspicious, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. That’s quite interesting,” Kayano notes. “I don’t see any flight attendants anywhere. And it’s like the only people on this plane is us. I never heard anyone speak through the speakers,” with that said, Nagisa looked around and indeed found speakers. “And if there’s no pilot, how are we even flying?” Kayano giggles at her own statement. “That’s something I’d like to know.”

Hazama made a nod of agreement. “Correct. Now please, leave me be and continue on to your journey.”

Nagisa and Kayano had complied and ventured off to the next nearest person. The people they are approaching are two people who seemed to be busy in their conversation. The boy was grinning from ear-to-ear while he spoke, and the girl was nodding rapidly at what he was saying. Kayano cleared her throat to alert them their presence.

“Why hello there Kayano-chan!” the girl greets with too much enthusiasm. Then she looks at Nagisa. “Hello there too, kiddo.”

“Er, hi,” Nagisa greets meekly.

“ _Why hello there, miss_ ,” the boy suddenly greets and steps too close to Nagisa, much to his discomfort. Nagisa nervously chuckles like the chuckle Sugaya made earlier and starts to push the boy away gently before the boy makes an attempt to take his hand and kiss it. “The sleeping cutie is finally awake.”

“Wow, Okajima-kun,” Kayano says with an eye roll but with a smile on her face. “You even try on boys, huh?”

The boy’s eyes widened as he steps back and looks at Nagisa. “You’re a boy???” Funny though. The boy and the girl had asked in union. Nagisa awkwardly rubbed his arms and nodded slowly. “Yeah… A-anyways,” he straightens up and smiles at the two strangers. “My name is Nagisa Shiota, the Ultimate Elementary Tutor. You can call me by my first name. It's nice to meet you both.”

The boy awkwardly laughs before nodding. “I’m the **Ultimate Cinematographer** , Taiga Okajima!”

“And I’m the **Ultimate Zoologist** , Hinano Kurahashi!” the girl says in happiness. “Nice to finally meet you, Shiota-kun.”

“You can call me by my first name.”

“Good, good,” Okajima says as he steps closer to Nagisa once again and warps an arm around him. He leads them to some where a bit closer to Hazama. Kayano and Hinano looks at each other before shrugging and giggling together.

“So,” Okajima starts in a whisper that Nagisa was instantly creeped out. “See anything cute and gorgeous? Kayano-san has a nice face but her shape just doesn’t intrigue me, you know?”

“Wh-what!?” Nagisa asks as he tries to pull away from the taller boy’s grip. “Th-that’s not-!”

Okajima laughs shortly before looking around. “Kurahashi-san’s just like Kayano-san, but from my close observation, she has a bigger bust than Kayano-san.”

“Okajima-kun,” Nagisa begins with a flustered face. “That’s not…” he shakes his head rapidly, and then he noticed that his hair was up in pigtails. “That’s not nice. You’ll be in big trouble e-especially if the girls find out about this.”

“They won’t,” Okajima answers with confidence. “Sorry kiddo, I just got bored. My _entertainment_ is back at home.” He sighs. “I just wish they’re here. They’re my _inspiration_ when it comes to cinematography. Really. If we ever get to Hope’s Peak Academy, I swear I’ll find the right actresses, scriptwriters, prop makers- and then we’ll be able to make the best adult movie ever!”

“Okay,” Nagisa awkwardly answers and walks back to Kayano. “We’ll just… talk later. I appreciate your… enthusiasm.”

“Nice to hear that,” Okajima murmurs and gets back to Hinano. Once again, the two were on their journey to meet a new person.

The nearest person happens to be a girl sitting at the back most part of the fuselage, sitting on a window seat. As Nagisa approaches her, she happens to be fiddling with her fingers, which so happens to be covered with dark violet gloves that seemed to look like it was made out of silk. He didn’t know if the gloves where up to her elbow or just her wrist because she was wearing a lab coat that seemed to swallow her hand when she folds her arms. When she notices their presence, the girl’s eyes widened behind her eyeglasses and looked down meekly.

“Hey there Okuda-san.”

The girl responded with a stammer and a stutter.

“He-hello… hello, erm… uh, Kayano-san.”

Her gaze lands on the blue-haired boy, and then she swallows visibly. “Y-you’re here f-for… for introductions, right?”

The conversation seems to be slow, so Nagisa figures she’s a quiet and shy type. Nagisa nods for her question. “Yes, my name’s Nagisa Shiota, the Ultimate Elementary Tutor. I’m a boy as well, if you could tell. Uhm, you can call me by my first name.”

The girl was hesitant, and both Kayano and Nagisa could sense her nervousness. She was like releasing a strong wave of anxiety, Nagisa thought she might be a girl who’s afraid of heights- typical, since they’re on an airplane right now. But, this type of anxiety isn’t because she’s afraid of something. Maybe it was just a… habit? She’s no different to one of his students.

“I’m… I am Manami Okuda… the **Ultimate Toxicologist**.”

Nagisa tilts his head slightly. “That’s… basically a type of scientist, right? You study about poisons and toxins?”

This seem to pike the nervous girl’s interest. “Y-yes. I handle poisons. It’s like studying chemistry. I-I suppose you know more about chemistry, s-since you’re the Ultimate Elementary Tutor, right?”

“Yeah,” Nagisa answers with a smile as he rubs his nape. “But even I have a limited knowledge about chemistry. To be honest, I’m still memorizing the table of elements. There are new additions, I think.”

“Indeed, there are,” Okuda surprisingly answers. She sighs as, finally, a smile settles on her face. “I-it’s… It’s good to know… that someone shares my interest.” She then looks at the two. “Uh, y-you should go meet the others, I suppose.”

With that, the two did and bid her goodbye. They went back to the front and Kayano eagerly pulled him towards the circle Sugino previously joined. With her calling them, Nagisa became shy when they were disturbed in their discussion. “Hey guys! Last student’s here! Introduce yourselves!” she seemed excited for him, but Nagisa shyly looked away once eyes landed on him.

The nearest to them, or clearly just beside Kayano, sitting on the airplane seat, was a girl dressed in an office wear. She basically adorns a pencil skirt, a white dress shirt inside a buttoned black blazer. Despite the formal-looking attire, she wore her hair in a form of low pigtails. Next to her was a blonde girl who was kneeling on her seat and wearing a grayish-green flight jacket and a pair of women’s cargo shorts, which made Nagisa think that her talent has something to do with aircraft. She was wearing an enthusiastic smile. In front of the two girls stood a short-haired girl, who crossed her arms and seemed to refuse on sitting on the seat. If Nagisa looked closely, he would see her wearing a pair of black leggings underneath her yellow sleeveless dress that went down above her knees. Next to the short-haired girl was a big guy with an intimidating look plastered on his face. He leaned on the airplane seat in front of him as he eyes Nagisa. Just by the pathway stood Sugino and a strawberry-blonde boy who wore a suit, as if matching up with the girl who wore the pencil skirt. If Nagisa focused too much on the strawberry-blonde boy, it would make him think that the stranger was trying to stare him down. There is just something about him that shouted ‘authority’ at Nagisa. And just behind the boy was a grey-haired girl, wearing shorts that reached her knees and a tank top, her firm gaze directed at the blue-haired boy.

“Well what’re you waitin’ for?” The intimidating guy asked aloud. “Speak!”

“O-oh, right!” Nagisa sputters and stood up straighter. “Nagisa Shiota, Ultimate Elementary Tutor. You can all call me by first name, though.”

“Nagisa- _san_ ,” the blonde girl says in teasing tone. “I kinda like that!”

Nagisa sighs as he looks down. Sugino pipes up though. “Hey, I already told you he’s a boy.”

“Chillax, I was just kidding,” the blonde girl says. “Introductions first before we explain what we’re _scheming_ on.”

“We’re not scheming,” Sugino murmurs before sitting on a seat.

“I’ll start,” the blonde girl says as she tilts her head at Nagisa. “Name’s Rio Nakamura, **Ultimate Helicopter Pilot**.” She salutes at him while she grins widely. “Nice ta’ meet you, Nagisa-kun.”

Ah, the young pioneer who broke speed limits in the air with a helicopter. She’s pretty famous in the East Asia, dreaming to fly across the Pacific Ocean like Amelia Earhart, not just with a helicopter, but with different kinds of aircraft. With that said, Nagisa thinks she’s the type of girl who’s adventurous and curious all the time. She likes to take risks. Her title says so much. Sometimes Nagisa is scared of heights, but that’s because he doesn’t often go to high places. This girl, however… she’s something, though. She probably likes the wind blowing on her face while she wears her hair down instead of tying it in a ponytail.

Nagisa looks at the girl wearing a pencil skirt, who simply stared back at him. She gave out this vibe that told Nagisa, she always means business. No time for jokes. “I am Rinka Hayami, **Ultimate Inspector**. Glad to be your acquaintance.”

He doesn’t know much about inspectors. But being able to go to Hope’s Peak Academy tells Nagisa that she’s a professional in her job. Just hearing the word inspector makes him think of those people who checks a college dorm room. Although, he thinks her talent doesn’t just succeed in a normal house. Now that he recalls Politics, inspectors have ranks in a government at different countries.

Then, he looks up at the short-haired girl, who blinks back at him. “I’m Hinata Okano,” in a second, it was as if Nagisa’s eyes fooled him when her eyes glinted, a small smirk that seemed to look competitive and challenging appearing on her face. “ **Ultimate Acrobat**.”

 _Acrobat_? Nagisa knows many kids who loves to see a circus perform. Maybe she’s a circus performer. She probably knows gymnastics and how to juggle. Although circus performances are known to have smiling faces, Okano seemed to be a serious, competitive performer.

He then looks at the intimidating guy, who uncrosses his arms and shoves his hands into his pockets. “Ryoma Terasaka, **Ultimate Pyro Technician**.”

 _Pyro means fire. So that means he basically handles fire… but what does he do? I’ve never heard of pyro technicians before_ , Nagisa thinks. Setting the thought aside, he looks back at the strawberry-blonde boy.

He stands up straight and directs a firm gaze at Nagisa, as if telling him to listen very well. “My name is Gakushuu Asano,” Nagisa’s eyes widened at his name. “ **Ultimate Linguist**. Remember that if you can.”

“W-will do, sir,” Nagisa responds, stunned at what he was seeing right now. Gakushuu Asano is the one and only son of Gakuhou Asano, a successful billionaire who manages a big company at Europe and Asia. Gakushuu is very famous, since it was known throughout the whole country that he was supposed to be the **Ultimate Intellectual Prodigy**. But, after a few weeks since Gakushuu was scouted, there was a horrifying accident that involved the young Asano. He had no recollection of memories, thus, making the young boy's life very difficult. But, it was noted that Gakushuu had no problem with his memories of the languages he had learned, and so, he continued to learn more languages throughout the world. He was once again, being observed by the school and had met their standards, thus, allowing him to enter the school.

He could hear Rio snickering at Nagisa’s response before swallowing. He looks at the final girl he will be meeting. Hopefully, she’s the last.

“I’m the **Ultimate Surfer** ,” she starts, eyes looking directly at Nagisa as her firm gaze turned into a soft warming expression. “Megu Kataoka.”

He expected swimmers and surfers, in total honesty, to be tanned and has revealing skin. Megu seemed to prove him otherwise. She has perfectly pale smooth-looking skin and a body of a model. She’s charismatic and beautiful, she can be quite attention-catching. Her voice sounded like she was evenly matched with Gakushuu, for when she talks, everyone will listen. “Nice to meet you, kid.”

Nagisa nodded and swallowed. Just being surrounded by ultimates just makes him shiver in happiness and relief. It reminded him that he was going to his school… which leads to his question.

“S-so,” Nagisa starts as he directs his gaze at Gakushuu, who seemed like the obvious leader of this circle. “Uhm, do you know how we ended up in here?”

“We don’t have an accurate answer,” Gakushuu answers. “Our stories are the same. We all wake up but we don’t know how we got into this airplane, which is highly suspicious and odd.”

“Don’t mind me asking but, who was the first person to wake up?”

“Me,” Okano answers simply. “I didn’t know what was going on when I discovered that all of you, besides me, are knocked out cold. So I woke the nearest person beside me, which was Hayami-san.”

“We performed inspections-“ the said girl cut herself before clearing her throat and starting again. “We started to gather data around. It appears that we don’t have access to any other closed space besides the comfort room.”

“Strangely enough, there seems to be no sign of people around besides us students,” Megu adds.

"We're not really sure if there's a pilot in the cockpit," Nakamura mumbles thoughtfully. "But... it's kind of impossible if there's no pilot flying the plane."

“That… sure sounds suspicious,” Nagisa notes. “What else do you know?”

“We got our luggage up top,” Rio answers as she reaches up and knocks at the compartment above her. Soon enough, Nagisa sees a green suitcase poking up at the compartment with an ‘N’ sticker plastered on it. “Although we have our belongings, it seems like we’re missing something.”

“Missing?” Nagisa asks.

“Usually,” Okano starts. “When I get on a plane for the next performance, I bring my cellphone.”

“We’ve searched the whole fuselage and found no communicating devices and things like that,” Rio murmurs as she leans on her seat.

“Then,” Nagisa gulps as a scenario formed in his mind. “Are we…?” he had trailed off, not knowing how to voice out something so obvious.

“We’re on board, knocked out altogether; no communicating devices around the fuselage; no other strangers present in here,” Kayano listed.

“It’s like we’re… held hostage?” Sugino suggests, unsure of his statement.

**“Good afternoon, this is your _captain_ speaking!”**

All ears perked up as a new voice had piped up through the speakers around the fuselage. The voice didn’t really sound like a literal human being. Nagisa couldn’t even figure out if the person behind the speakers is a boy or a girl. It was like someone had shoved a fork in their throat and swallowed a dozen cups of cement powder. If one listened to them talk for more than a minute, they probably would’ve made excuses to get away from them.

That aside, Nagisa had seen some of their reactions. They obviously wanted answers

**“I have some flight info for ‘ya, so get ready ta’ listen!”**

They sounded like they were taking this situation _too_ lightly. The person behind the speakers received positive and negative reactions, others creating remarks and comments.

“Sounds like a high pilot,” Rio mutters uneasily.

“Is _that_ even the pilot?” Sugino asks.

 **“ _Upupupupu_ ,”** they laughed strangely. “Who the hell laughs like that?” Terasaka had absent-mindedly commented before the so-called ‘captain’ speaks. **“We’re flying at an altitude of a _gazillion_ feet and our air speed is in _shit-ton_ miles per hour! We’ll be landing shortly to our destination. I suggest you-“**

The voice stops talking.

All of them looked at each other, confused and curious. This pilot was certainly a fake. Gazillion? Shit-ton? Even someone who is not a helicopter pilot knows that this person was playing. That’s when all of a sudden, the laws of physics had hit them. The airplane felt like it was falling.

In an instant, Nagisa had tried to lunge forward to grab the armrest of an airplane seat so he could hold on. His back hits the ceiling of the fuselage. In observation, almost of all of them have hit the ceiling of the fuselage. He saw Sugino, Gakushuu, Megu, Terasaka and Okano grip at some seats, trying to hold on to anything, make their way to their seats and buckle up their seatbelts. Hayami, as soon as the aircraft dropped, had grabbed her seatbelt and had struggled to buckle up. The same goes for Rio. He looks behind him and saw Manami, Karma and Hazama successfully on their seats. But Manami had an expression of fear; Karma has a confused expression; and Hazama was silent, and frantically looked around. Others like the art prodigy, the paramedic, the cinematographer and the zoologist had done the same things like him.

“Wh-what’s happening!?” Kayano had yelled.

“We’re going to die!!!” Okajima screamed.

“Stay calm!” Gakushuu shouts. “Grab the nearest seat and buckle your seatbelts!”

All of them were in chaos. Nagisa pulls himself down and tries to sit, but dropping in the air was making it difficult for him. Okano had made tricks just to get down to a seat. The others were still struggling to do what Gakushuu had instructed.

**“Upupupupu! We’re crash-landing, boys and girls!”**

“Who the hell is that?” Sugino had murmured to himself.

In her seat, Okuda closed her eyes, feeling sick as the plane continues to drop. Karma looked out the window, hoping to see whatever is on the ground. He hardly saw anything, for more clouds had blocked his view. Hinano was starting to tear up, and Okajima saw her. Grabbing her shoulders and pushing her down, he helped her get down to a seat, which made Hinano thankful. The second she had sat down, she buckles her seatbelt frantically before grabbing Okajima’s hands and trying to pull him down as well. Gakushuu, Sugino and Megu helped each other, with Terasaka getting down by himself easily due to his height. Sugaya and Takebayashi, helping each other, had sat down as well.

**“The Monokuma Airplane is landing now. So I suggest you sit back, relax, and _enjoy_ the ride!!!”**

That was the final statement Nagisa heard before screams erupted and an unidentifiable odor entered his nostrils... and he blacks-out.


	2. Chapter 1: In the Midst of a Vacation (1.1)

Nagisa’s eyes bolted open when a cold liquid came in contact with his face. Hands wiped away the substance from his eyes and the part between his nose and his lips, breathing in. He inhaled a fresh sweet scent that reminded him of something luxurious and fancy. Cold air nipped the skin of his face and his neck as he blinks several times to look around. Bright warm lights appeared in front of him and the first thing he notices is the pure white ceiling dotted with round bright lights. He could hear the familiar low sound that AC units release, some footsteps coming from around, murmurs in conversations and arguments, then loud bangs. The next thing he sees was the pair of round amber eyes belonging to Karma as he kneeled down beside him with a water bottle in his hand.

“Kayano-san, he’s up!” He calls out. Nagisa sat up, blinking again and noticed that they were no longer in an airplane. Instead, they were somewhere else. Kayano was coming towards them with a look of concern.

“Are you alright, Nagisa-kun?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Nagisa answers and fiddles with his wet collar.

“Karma-kun, you said you wouldn’t use water,” Kayano says as she looks at Karma. The latter just shrugs with an amused smile. “I had nothing to do anyways so why not have fun with a kid while he’s out of it?”

“You were supposed to be helping the others look around,” Kayano murmurs before shaking her head. She smiles and turns to Nagisa. “Anyways, you still remember what happened earlier, right Nagisa-kun?”

Nagisa swallows, looking down at his lap. He remembers clearly. After meeting the whole class, the so-called Pilot had perked up behind the speakers. Then suddenly, they were _crash-landing_. It seems unbelievable, but what happened earlier was real. His back was touching the ceiling of the fuselage as he watches other students struggle to go to a seat and buckle themselves up. _What was the point of getting your seatbelt on when you’re going to crash-land?_ Nagisa ignored the thought, because what was more confusing was that, they’re out of the plane, alive, inside another place.

“Yes. I remember,” he answers and starts to stand up. He looks around, figuring out where they are.

“We’re inside some sort of hotel,” Karma said as if he knew what Nagisa was thinking about it. “The lobby to be exact.”

“We looked around to see if anyone is in here besides us, and,” she sighs loudly. “It’s just like earlier. We couldn’t go anywhere.”

Nagisa decided to start looking around while Kayano says something towards Karma about Terasaka and Gakushuu. To his front was a long desk, which he assumed as the front desk. No employee was lingering in the area, except for the toxicologist and the librarian. There were some armchairs and small round coffee tables as well. Each table has a vase with indoor plants on them, but Nagisa suspected that they’re all fake. He wasn’t sure, though. Some sets where aligned by the walls and a place where glass windows are supposed to be. Except, instead of glass, they are all whole metal.

Once he sees the acrobat, the helicopter pilot, the cinematographer and the zoologist, he realized that the banging sounds came from them. Rio was softly taping her knuckles on the metal, as if trying to hear something out of place. Both Okajima and Hinano harshly pounded on the metal wall, trying to weaken a hard object such as metal. Okano had went slightly back, and then started running towards a spot. With enough power, she kicks on the ground as she flings herself towards the metal, her right leg stretched out. Nagisa assumed she was going to kick the metal with all her power. She was unsuccessful. Her kick only made a loud noise that echoed throughout the spacious room they’re in.

He looks around again, and sees Takebayashi, Sugaya and Hayami flipping through the shiny pages of magazines. Just by a round table near them was a stack of magazines. They seemed to be searching for something. A second passes, Sugaya made a smile and nudges Takebayashi with his elbow. He shows something the paramedic and in a moment, Takebayashi nods and calls Hayami’s attention. The three began to look at the magazine in Sugaya’s hands and started to discuss between themselves.

Just behind the three, the last four had gathered at what was supposed to be the entrance of the lobby. Instead, a huge metal barrier had blocked them from going outside. Terasaka had faced Gakushuu with a look of annoyance as he talks to the linguist. Gakushuu shakes his head while crossing his arms together in front of his chest, then started talking as well. Nagisa noticed the easy-going look on linguist’s face, so he gets to the conclusion that Gakushuu is amused. Terasaka’s response was cut off when Megu started to talk. Megu, even when Nagisa only sees one side of her face, looked like she was going to kill out of exasperation. Sugino awkwardly stood near them, watching the three in concern.

Nagisa decided to start walking towards the archer.

“Sugino-kun,” he calls. In an instant, the archer turns his head to look at the blue-haired boy. Sugino offers him a welcoming expression before turning back to the three. “What’s happening over here?” Nagisa asks as he feels small beads of water slowly slide down his face and to his top clothing.

Sugino sighs. “We’re trying to open this thing here,” he motions to the metal barrier. “Kataoka-san suggested we try lifting this thing up, because it looks like that’s the way it’s supposed to be done. Terasaka-kun said they should just try knocking this thing down. The two started arguing until Asano-kun disagrees and told them it’s pointless to just stand and argue, so… this is what’s happening right now.”

Nagisa slightly frowns and looks at the three. Megu, despite having such a charismatic appearance, was glaring at Terasaka, blabbering about ‘common sense’. Her commanding tone almost rivaled Gakushuu’s tone. That said, Gakushuu stood still on his position with an eyebrow raised, muttering something so calmly that Terasaka cuts him down. Before a physical action was done, Sugaya, Takebayashi and Hayama approached the three.

“Asano-kun,” Hayami calls out, both expression and tone coming out serious. “We found something.”

All five of them turns at them. Gakushuu looks back at her with a small smile.

“What is it, Hayami-san?” he asks politely. Nagisa’s eyebrows slightly furrowed at the linguist. Something about the tone he used made Nagisa think of those superior people who always looked down at people they call “commoners”. It didn’t make any sense when Nagisa had thought of it, but maybe it has to do with the information about Gakushuu Asano being the supposed-to-be Ultimate Intellectual Prodigy.

Hayami looks up at Sugaya, who hands a glossy paper at him. _It’s an advertisement paper_ , Nagisa notes. The back of the glossy paper was pure cream, but judging by Gakushuu’s eyes, there was something written on the front.

“It says there that this is Chesu Hotel,” Takebayashi said.

“It’s some sort of a small decent hotel,” Sugaya says as Megu walks behind Gakushuu to read the advertisement paper. “There’re some hooks and the location of the hotel there but that’s about it.”

“Chesu Hotel is located in Yokohama, Kanagawa,” Megu notes. “Not too far from Tokyo…”

“Oy, what’s going on there?” he hears Kayano pipe up. Soon, all of them gathered around Gakushuu.

”We found out where we are,” Hayami answers. “We’re in Chesu Hotel, which is located in Yokohama.”

“Oh, I’ve been there already,” Hinano shares with a smile. “I was visiting a local zoo there. That’s not too far from Tokyo.”

“That’s what I said,” Megu says. “But that would mean we were on an airplane heading _here_.”

“I-Is there something we should know about that?” Okuda asks shyly, at the same time, curiously.

“Yeah,” Sugino responded. “Weren’t we supposed to be going to Hope’s Peak Academy?

“Hope’s Peak is located at Tokyo,” Okano notes aloud.

“Well, it takes at least an hour to get to Tokyo from Yokohama,” Rio starts. “But, I think that’s only if you take the bullet train, or a bus maybe. I’m not sure. I’ve spent most of my time traveling on choppers.”

“This gets more suspicious every time I think about it,” Hazama freely shares. All eyes landed on her, and Nagisa had to agree. “We found out that all of us were on a plane together, and the most intriguing fact here is that we were all unconscious.”

“Something that doesn’t happen normally,” Kayano carefully adds.

Hazama nods. “We have the same stories. We remember that we’re supposed to be going to Hope’s Peak. There were no employees on board and we couldn’t go anywhere besides the comfort rooms.”

“And then there’s that pilot,” Okano says. “Next thing we know, we’re crash-landing, and now we find ourselves in here.”

“And we were unconscious again,” Sugaya adds. “But, that doesn’t make sense. Who brought us here? How can we be unconscious at a time like that too?”

“From shock, maybe?” Okajima offers.

Nagisa suddenly felt alarmed as he felt his own voice cut through the air. “I remember smelling something strange before blacking out.”

“Then… it must be chloroform,” Terasaka spoke. “Chloroform can knock you out easily. And that would mean…” he starts to look for a small girl who adorns a white lab coat. Eyes follow his and all of them started to look at the Ultimate Toxicologist. “You know _something_ , don’t you?”

“Huh?” Okuda blurts out, dumbfounded.

Rio turns at the pyro technician with a small frown. “You’re dumber than I thought for someone who’s labeled as the Ultimate Pyro Tech. Chloroform only works when you soak a cloth in it and inhale it.”

“You don’t know that,” Okajima starts. “You probably just watch too much action slash thriller movies. As an experienced cinematographer, I think I’m allowed to tell you that chloroform works in other various ways.”

“Are you saying that,” Sugino hesitates, then continues. “You can knock a person out by using chloroform, in a different way other than the cloth trick thing?”

“That’s basically what I just said,” Okajima responded. Sugino sweatdrops sheepishly.

“You can release chloroform in the air, right Okuda-san?” Okajima asks.

“U-uh,” Okuda swallows. Nagisa felt really sorry for her. “Um, Chloroform can be vaporized into gas so when you inhale it, you can slip into unconsciousness easily. But when you do the cloth trick, I have encountered an experiment where it takes at least five or seven minutes for the fumes to render anyone unconscious. Maybe it’s Ether… but I just remember that in liquid form, chloroform is 50% denser than water, so it creates a separate layer-“

“We’re not asking you for a chemistry lecture,” Terasaka cuts her ramblings, which made her jump at his tone. “And besides, Ether is highly flammable. If Ether was used to knock us out then we would’ve been dead by now!”

“Really?” Hinano asks, genuinely curious like Kayano, who only stayed quiet.

“Well, there had been previous cases regarding Ether during the 19th century when doctors use them for operations and surgeries,” Takebayashi replies.

Nagisa looked really confused. It started from Hazama telling them how suspicious this is to Takebayashi saying something about Ether’s use during the 19th century. Gakushuu, Okano, Megu and Rio looked really annoyed at the situation that unfolds in front of them. Terasaka shoots Takebayashi a scowl.

“We’re getting out of topic here!” Terasaka yells. He looks at Okuda. “Do you have anything to do with this? Do you know _why_ and _how_ we got here?”

Okuda helplessly looked at Terasaka, thumbs visibly rubbing on the pads of her index fingers- a habit she developed when she feels like she had failed an experiment with dangerous toxins. Nagisa was about to speak when someone beats him to it.

“Why’re you so worked up on her, Terasaka-kun?” Karma drawls out casually as eyes looked at him. Nagisa noticed the dangerous glint in Karma’s eyes. “If you remember, which I’m sure you _don’t_ , Okuda-san is a victim here too. If she’s behind all of this, then why would she knock herself out and lock herself in here with us as well? Wouldn’t that be pointless?”

“There has to be a reason,” Terasaka responded as he aims his scowl on Karma.

“Now you’re just making unoriginal excuses here,” Karma shoots back at the pyro technician with a smirk.

“You talk big for someone who has something so stupid and trivial for a talent.”

Karma raised an eyebrow at him, his smirk not leaving his face. Nagisa noticed the dark aura that started to pour out of his core, and everybody noticed it as well. But Terasaka was not climbing out of the grave he just dug.

“Speaking about my luck being stupid and trivial is a wrong move, Terasaka-kun,” he says, his tone sounding like it was laced with poison and thorns. One more word from Terasaka, a fight will occur.

**“Upupupupu, the tension here is so _thick_ and _tight_ , I could almost _die_ from this crap!”**

Nagisa located the source from the front desk. No one was there, but he was sure the voice came from there. It was the same voice that spoke through the speakers in the airplane. They sounded playful, possibly amused that the lucky student and the pyro technician were having an argument that seemed sensitive judging by Karma’s reaction.

“Who’s there?” Gakushuu and Megu asked simultaneously. The two looked at each other sharply before turning to the front desk.

A second or two had passed, and suddenly, something jumped out from behind the front desk. Eyes widened as a black and white blur entered the view before finally setting in the middle front of the desk. Nagisa’s eyes widened at the sight, and he’s sure he’s not the only one with the same reaction.

“Fellow guests, I am the new hotel owner of the Chesu hotel, the one and only… **_Monokuma_**!”

Numerous gasps of disbelief and surprise cut through the air, looking at the… animal in front of them. The animal was identified as a two-toned bear, standing high and mighty as it faces them. Their name fits their appearance, for it was truly a monochrome bear. The right side of it is color white with a beady eye, and the right half of the mouth looked like a real bear’s mouth. It’s basically a half of a whole classic teddy bear appearance. But its left side is pure charcoal black, with a red symbol for an eye. Nagisa immediately notices the left half of its mouth, which would’ve formed a wide sickening grin.

“Is that… supposed to be bear?” Sugino asked in confusion.

“I’m a zoologist and I’ve never seen a bear like that before,” Hinano replies in a wondering tone. “Maybe it isn’t dangerous…?”

“Must be a hotel mascot of sorts,” Rio lets out playfully.

The said bear made a screeching sound. “Whaaa!? How rude! As I said, I am the new hotel owner here. You must respect me so in return, I respect you as guests of my beloved five-star hotel!”

“You must be kidding,” Okano sighs out.

“No, I’m **_Monokuma_** ,” the bear lets out.

“This obviously isn’t a real bear. Hmm, maybe it’s a robot,” Sugaya starts.

“A toy plushie, perhaps?” Takebayashi was next. “It must be battery operated and remote controlled.”

“Right,” Megu says as she crosses her arms in front of her chest. “Is this some kind of prank? “Cause if it is, yehey, you just fooled us. Now let us go so we can go to Hope’s Peak.”

“Puhuhuhu,” the bear laughed as their black and white paws went over to their mouth. It didn’t make any difference though. “You’re _so_ funny.”

“This is clearly nonsense and a waste of time,” Gakushuu said, tone glazed with boredom.

“Yeah, what he said,” Okajima follows. “Whoever’s behind this, I really congratulate you for the realistic concept and effects from the previous scenes because it _totally_ swept us off our feet. Now just let us go, we’ll share a dinner or two and we can even discuss the porn star of the month.”

Some shot Okajima dirty looks, but the said boy just gave Monokuma an impatient look. Nagisa blinks and swallows.

“That sounds really nice, but we have other plans to do!” the bear gushes suddenly in excitement. “We’ll have lots of fun, you know! I have something planned for you, and I need your support and cooperation for this!”

“Yeah, whatever, just tell us already,” Megu said as she glares at the bear. “Will that make us get out of here?”

Another laugh. “Upupupu.”

Nagisa suddenly felt something crawl up his spine, and sweat started forming on his forehead. He felt this strange gut feeling all of a sudden, which prompted him to think of possible scenarios that will happen next. And it made him wonder. If this thing was a robot, shouldn’t it have some program of sorts? That would mean someone is behind this for making a program and a robot. If it’s remote-controlled, then someone is behind this right now. He looks at each person, scanning their hands and expressions, quickly but carefully. Nobody seems to be controlling the bear. He looks around the lobby, but before he could scan the whole room carefully, the bear laughs loudly again.

“What’s so funny?” Terasaka asked, irritated.

“Alright then, I’ll cut to the point,” the bear says. “Kids these days. So impatient! You want to get out of here?”

A few nodded, some answered harshly with impatience. Others didn’t respond, and Nagisa is one of them. _Where will this lead now? I’ve got a really bad feeling about this._

“Okie dokie! You can get out of here if you do one easy peasy thing.”

“And that is?” Nagisa hears Karma asking, looking like the argument he and Terasaka had had never happened.

**_“Killing each other!”_ **

There was a stunned, shock silence. And then, there was an uproar.

“What the fuck!?”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Are you kidding me? That’s _bull_!”

Nagisa had his eyebrows furrowing, lips parting yet limbs freezing. Nagisa heard Okajima, Megu, Terasaka, Okano, Rio, Sugaya, Sugino and Kayano rambling out of shock, disbelief, annoyance and irritation. Takebayashi, Hinano and Okuda had their eyes widened, plainly shocked as they murmur things to themselves. Strangely, only Hazama, Karma, Gakushuu were silent, as well as Hayami, who has been silent for a long time since she said she, Sugaya and Takebayashi found something. As the others continued to talk, the bear didn’t even wait for them to get silent.

“ ** _Beat_** them to death, **_drown_** them in a bathtub, **_stab_** them with a knife, **_push_** them down the stairs, **_break_** their necks, **_cut_** their wrists, **_poison_** them- with this hotel full of equipment you could use for murder, you can have _endless_ ideas of how to _kill_! Use your imagination and creativity here, boys and girls! It’s easy as cake!”

“This is…” Hinano trailed off, slowly dropping to her knees and putting one palm over her mouth and the other on her stomach. “I don’t… I don’t feel so well.” Immediately, Kayano goes to her side.

“You’re… you’re serious,” Sugino slowly says. “You’re serious, are you?”

“Of course!” Monokuma yells… _his_ answer, enthusiastically. “Why’re you all acting like that? It’s not like it’s a crime.”

“Killing someone _is_ a crime!” Okano shouts furiously. “We’re obviously not doing that. Obviously not!”

“Oh???” Monokuma asks. “Really? You wouldn’t kill in exchange for something you _obviously_ want?”

“Obviously?” Nagisa finds himself muttering the word. _What is…_

“What’re you talking about?” Hayami spoke for the first time in a while, tone still neutral yet firm. She clearly wanted answers. And Nagisa’s sure everyone wants it too.

“Don’t you want to get out of here? To make this better, I can also give you back your memories to be fair and square. It’d be worth killing for!”

“Memories?” Nagisa hears Gakushuu speaking. He looks over at the linguist, who has this new glint in his eyes.

“Yep yep yep, dearest Asano-kun!” Monokuma replies. “Even the memories you had before your accident, I can give you!”

Nagisa saw Gakushuu’s hands curling tight into a fist, but his expression changed into something that made Nagisa’s blood run cold.

“W-wait, are you,” Megu had started as she looks at Gakushuu, uneasy on her feet. “Are you considering…?”

“This is bullshit,” Nagisa hears Okano speaking this time, eyes flaming as she glares at the bear. She starts to approach the bear, hands balling. “You’re… a robot, so we can easily destroy you, huh.”

“Oh! Destruction of Monokuma sounds so _despairing_.”

Nagisa felt uneasy at the last word. _D…des… Des…pair???_

All of a sudden, something flashed before Nagisa, like a flashback. It happened in a second, all he saw was a hand grasping a hunter’s knife. The blade was stained… with blood.

Nagisa’s eyes widened, blinking several times and lips parting as he lets out an inaudible gasp. Sugino looks at him in worry. The blue-haired boy stood shocked for a moment, before realizing that something was happening. Once his eyes looked up, he saw Okano’s form rapidly approaching Takebayashi and Sugaya’s spot. _She was… Did Monokuma just… throw her?_

“Ugh!!!” Okano let out as soon as she felt the figures of the two boys. They helped her up, before looking back at Monokuma.

That didn’t stop them though. Okajima, in panic, had grabbed a vase and threw it to the bear.

“Hey, hey! That’s my property, you sick bastards!”

Okano and Rio didn’t hesitate on picking up a vase and threw it to the monochrome bear. Terasaka, in an instant, rushed towards a chair and grabbed it. With unbelievable strength, he threw it at Monokuma’s way. The bear only dodged the projectiles aimed at him. Nagisa didn’t notice a certain archer grabbing a vase and aimed it at the bear. With sharp and accurate skills, Sugino swings his arm like he was pitching a ball in a baseball game. The vase was the first object that had hit the monochrome bear.

Everyone stood still, looking at Sugino then back at Monokuma.

His red eyes started to flash bright scarlet. “Naughty, naughty children. I’m getting really tired of this and it’s obvious that you have no other choice, eh?”

“We… we can’t just,” Hinano inhales and swallows. “We can’t just kill each other.”

“What- you think you’re buddy-buddy with each other? You just met each other to _day_ , y’know!?” Nagisa clenched his teeth, feeling himself scowl at the bear. He was… the bear was right. They only met each other today, so they’re basically strangers to each other. _There’s this thing called morals_ , he mentally thinks.

“Oh wow! You must be feeling despair right now. But that isn’t enough. That’s _so_ not enough! If you don’t kill each other, then you’ll be stuck here, _forever_! And whadoyou know? If you don’t kill each other, our beloved traitor will officially start the mutual killing ame!”

“Traitor?” Nagisa blurted our first. That caused another set of uproar.

“And you think destroying me will stop this, kids?” Monokuma asked and put a paw to what’s-supposed-to-be a hip. He makes the same annoying ear-grating laugh before he makes a clap. In a sudden moment, he explodes.

Hinano, Kayano and Okuda released short screams. Then they were followed by uneasy gasps and yelps. A second passes, a new monochrome bear was set before them like nothing had happened. But something did. The bear exploded, and the remains were still there. _So it must be some sort of robot. There are wires, metal parts…_

“Are you surprised!? I’m no circus performer like our pretty acrobat here, but I think I’ll pass the test to become one! I love making children cheer, if you know what I mean.”

“This is hell,” Sugaya mumbles. “This can’t be happening.”

“It _is_ happening,” Terasaka says realistically. Nagisa watches Terasaka form a firm expression, the pyro technician’s gaze directed at the monochrome bear. “Is that all? We just have to kill someone?”

“Are you seriously asking that question?” Okajima asks in disbelief.

“Upupupu, good boy, Terasaka-kun!” Terasaka’s scowl deepens slightly at the bear’s words. “I’m sure this isn’t clear to my dear guests.”

Nagisa absent-mindedly nodded at this, but nobody noticed his action. _It isn’t clear. None of this **is**._

“For your information, this isn’t some type of Battle Royale or Hunger Games thing. As much as I would _looove_ that, there’s just no drama there. There’s a time limit in those games-“ Nagisa flinched at the word ‘game’ “-which is _so_ boring since the players have to kill anyone they see. That’s just a _boring_ murder who wants to end the game because there’s a time limit and because they want to get it over with; it’s not a _despairing_ murder. But this, this **_Hotel Life of Mutual Killing Game_** , has no time limits. Wonderful, eh!? And after a murder, there will be a class trial.”

“Class trial?” Hazama asks with an eyebrow raised.

“Yes! Class trials! Like the ones that happen in courts where there are attorneys, judges, prosecutors, witness and shit. But in our class trial, you get to have all of those lame-ass roles. You must figure out _who_ **_killed_** _who_.”

“So,” Karma pipes up unexpectedly. All eyes sharply landed on him, and Nagisa slightly got uncomfortable. “You’re saying that, if I were to murder someone, nobody must know that I killed the victim, except for the victim themselves? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Jackpot!!!” Monokuma shrilled. “After the body discovery announcement,-“ once again, Nagisa flinches “-everybody must perform an investigation! _Then_ will you only attend the Class Trial! Oh, this is exciting! Hear that guests? We’ve got a nice program on set!”

“What,” Takebayashi started, pausing before continuing. “What happens when we… find out who killed who?”

“Why’re you asking that?” Rio asks in what Nagisa sees as anger. “Nobody’s going to _kill_.” Nagisa finds this a bit ironic, because her expression and her low tone seemed to say otherwise.

“Upupupu, you sound so confident about that. Nakamura-san,” Monokuma says.

“I am,” Rio shots back at the bear, but when she faces the other students, her expression faltered. Nagisa copied her actions, and he found out why her expression faltered. Hinano had hear face buried in her hands as Kayano rubs her back soothingly. Kayano looked simply concerned and uneasy, just like Hazama and Takebayashi. Okuda was silent, fear right in her eyes. Sugaya, Sugino and Okajima had the same expression as hers. Hayami still had this stoic expression on her face, but there was a slight crease on her forehead. Nagisa couldn’t read her easily. Megu had wrapped her arms around her, downright uneasy as the dark atmosphere slowly suffocated them. What’s noticeable was the expressions Okano, Karma, Gakushuu and Terasaka had. It made him… scared.

“Puhuhu, you know, in a class, there will always be a backstabber, eh? Don’t you agree?”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Takebayashi responded uneasily. “What will happen if we find out who the killer is?”

“Hmmm… I’ll explain that once a class trial occurs.” The red eye flashes. “You wanna find out, sir? Then you must _kill_ someone.”

Everything that the bear had said must’ve piled on top of Hinano that she fell unconscious in Kayano’s arms. Okajima had crouched down to her, worried as he cups her cheek. One look from Kayano had made the Ultimate Paramedic rushing to Hinano’s side. As Takebayashi tells Okajima what was happening to Hinano, Nagisa felt himself sit on an armchair. He could hear Sugino muttering something to himself, but Nagisa paid attention to what the bear said next.

“Alright folks. Let’s start the Grand _Re_ -Opening of Chesu Hotel!” Monokuma yells.

Nagisa hears a sharp ‘shing’ sound, which attracted attention. All of them could see the sharp shining claws of Monokuma. Nagisa finally noticed the blocked doorway just near the front desk, and he thinks hastily, _Why didn’t I notice that before?_ The wide blocked doorway was covered by something heavy that it weighed tons. Just in front of that was a red ribbon that Nagisa also _didn’t_ notice before. _That wasn’t there before… right?_ With a swing, Monokuma cuts off the red ribbon with a cheer, and the heavy obstacle in the way slides to the side like a sliding door. Nagisa furrowed at the action before Monokuma looks at them. He was just being realistic. Maybe everything was just a dream… but that would’ve been another fucked up cliché thing. Nagisa felt helpless, desperate, and he wanted to know what was really going on around.

**_“Well what’re you waiting for, my lovely guests? Go exploring, play the elevator buttons or whatever young guests do!”_ **


	3. Chapter 1: In the Midst of a Vacation (1.2)

He was just being realistic. Maybe everything was just a dream… but that would’ve been another fucked up cliché thing. Nagisa felt helpless, desperate, and he wanted to know what was really going on around.

**_“Well what’re you waiting for, my lovely guests? Go exploring, play the elevator buttons or whatever young guests do!”_ **

Nagisa watches the monochrome bear walk through the wide doorway before disappearing. Takebayashi was still talking to Kayano and Okajima when Megu decides to take their attention hesitantly.

“Guys,” she calls out uneasily. “Hey guys, seriously, listen.”

“I can’t believe this,” Sugaya breathes out. “Are we going to die? Are we supposed to trus-“

“No, goddammit!” Okano cuts him. Nagisa looks at the acrobat, and the look she had previously was now a look of annoyance. But then, as he focuses on her, he could see the determination present in her eyes. “We’re not…” she sighs as she looks down and sucking in a deep breath. “We’re not gonna let that stupid bear get to us.”

“She’s right,” Megu thankfully looks at Okano. “If that thing won’t get us out of here, then…”

“We’ll find our own exit,” Nagisa continued. It seems like the confidence and determination Okano and Megu had had infected him. As eyes looked at him, full of fear, disbelief, uncertainty, _despair_ , he looks at them with an expression filled with _hope_. He slightly smiles encouragingly. “This… this _is_ a hotel, right? So, I’m sure that we can find a way out of here.”

The suffocating silence began to vanish like a drifting fog, and others find themselves nodding in agreement. Megu looks at him in appreciation before beginning to talk to the silent Gakushuu. Whatever it was, Megu intended to keep it to themselves as she talks to him in a low and hushed tone. Gakushuu visibly smiles at her as he spoke, and the surfer had this look of relief before nodding at the linguist. Okano turns to the unconscious zoologist and asked a question directed to the paramedic.

Feeling a presence beside him, Nagisa sees Sugino sit beside him before releasing a long sigh. “Unbelievable,” he hears the archer murmur. “I still think this is some kind of joke.”

Nagisa frowns slightly. “To be honest, I don’t know what to think of this. The situation we’re in- it’s completely absurd. The more I think about it, the more it gets confusing.”

Sugino silently urges him to continue by slightly lifting his eyebrows. Nagisa looks at him. “I mean, if this is some kind of joke people are performing, then they sure did a good job here. The crash-landing, this lockdown, that explosion… But, why are they joking around with us? And if this is real, then…” he clicks his tongue and leans back on his armchair, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m not gonna participate in this so-called Hotel Life of… Mutual Killing, or whatever the bear said.”

“You’re not alone,” Nagisa nods at the archer slowly before Sugino continues as he rubs his own nape slowly. “But you know, his explosion made me think about something. He came from the front desk, right?”

“Yeah,” Nagisa nods, slowly getting Sugino’s confusion. “Want to check it out?”

“Sure,” the archer answers and both of them stood up from their seats. In the middle of walking towards the front desk, Nagisa saw a certain lucky student walk side by side with them at the corner of his eyes. He turns his head to his right and sees Karma smiling at them as they continue walking to the front desk.

“Are you going to join us, Karma-kun?” the elementary tutor asks the lucky student. In response, the redhead shrugs as he flashes a grin at the small boy. “Well, why not?”

Sugino uneasily looks at the redhead, eyebrows furrowing and lips making a familiar frown he makes when he misses the bullseye during target practice. Suddenly, Karma’s mercury eyes instantly glanced at him, and Sugino quickly looked away and absent-mindedly traced his wrists. It was a habit that formed out of anxiety back when he was just seven years old, the first time he held a bow. Back to the lucky student, Sugino couldn’t help but feel wary and cautious around the redhead. He decides to brush the uncomfortable feeling down.

Just before the front desk was the first Monokuma’s remains. Nagisa noticed the wires and metal parts; white and black. He saw the red eyepiece as well. Other than that, there was quite a huge mess thanks to the vases that were being thrown. Fake flowers scattered too. They passed the armchair Terasaka had thrown earlier, surprisingly still in one piece.

“So,” Nagisa began. “That bear, Monokuma, came out from here.” He slightly hops as he uses his arms to support himself, trying to look at the inner side of the front desk. He scans the whole desk, trying to see if there any hidden levers, buttons, latches or anything else. Sugino hopped up and slid over the top slowly. Then he drops in the inner side of the front desk. Karma does the same, but only stayed on the front desk and sits criss-cross on it, watching the archer search the ground. Sugino could feel his eyes at him, but ignored it and started to look at the ground.

While the three of them gather at the front desk, Megu calls them. “Boys.” She started walking towards them, adjusting the straps of her tank top. Nagisa, Sugino and Karma looked at the surfer.

“Asano-kun and I decided to check what that bear has for us,” she says. “We’ll try to look around and see if there are possible exits around. We’re gonna scatter so we can quickly cover the whole ground floor. After looking around, we’re gonna go back here to report what we’ve discovered. After all, Kurahashi-san is still out cold here.”

“Okay,” Nagisa replies. “If we’re finish looking around here, we’ll start helping you out.”

“Thanks,” Megu thanked before going back to the group. The three boys watched the surfer go back, and sees all of them nodding at Gakushuu and Megu. Some of them started to approach the wide doorway where Monokuma entered. The others like Takebayashi, Kayano, Okajima and Hinano stayed in the lobby. Kayano sees Nagisa looking over at her and then smiles at him. But her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Nagisa, being polite, acknowledges her by waving at her before Kayano turns back to the unconscious girl in her arms. She then began lifting the unconscious zoologist to stand up. Takebayashi started helping her out as a trained paramedic while Okajima grabs an armchair and tries to turn it for them.

Nagisa looks back at Sugino, who was already searching the whole desk. “Any luck, Sugino-kun?”

“No,” Sugino shakes his head. “Can’t find anything that can be opened or pressed in here. There are some other advertisement papers here, some pamphlets, maps, card readers, log books…” Sugino picks up the brown-colored log book and flips through the pages. It was empty. He huffs as he sets the log book down. “But there’s nothing else here that could lead to an explanation of Monokuma’s appearance.”

Nagisa sighs. Karma smiles at them. “We already searched the whole lobby when you were still out,” he says as he looks at Nagisa. “Why don’t we move on looking further inside the hotel?”

Nagisa and Sugino looks at each other, and they both turned to the lucky student. “Okay then,” Nagisa answers for them. Karma hopped off the desk and started heading towards the wide doorway. Nagisa waited for the archer, who successfully went over the desk like he did earlier and walked with Nagisa, side by side. The wide door way was located at the far-right corner of the huge lobby. Nagisa still wondered why he didn't notice that.

Right when they went through the doorway, On Nagisa’s right, he sees two doorways. The one on the left side has a sign of a black bear, with a red symbol for an eye and a wide grin. As Nagisa focuses on it, he remembers the left side of Monokuma. The one on the right side has a sign of a white bear that looked like a teddy bear, with innocent beady eyes and a bear’s mouth. _That’s the white side of Monokuma,_ Nagisa thinks. The next thing he notices was the wide door across them, which has a sign that says "Entertainment Lounge'. The ceiling was no longer pure white, but it resembled an endless pattern of black and white squares that looked like the surface of a chessboard. It was fitting for the name of the hotel.

“Bathrooms,” Sugino voices out. In between the doors was a small rectangular table with a white flower vase that has black swirly patterns printed on it, resting on the table. In the vase was a fake bouquet of moonflowers.

Nagisa sweatdrops at the signs after thinking silently. “So, which one is the men’s bathroom?”

“Probably the one with the black bear,” Karma responds for him. He huffs and approaches the door with the black bear sign and looked up. “There’s a turret gun here.”

“EH???” Both the elementary tutor and the archer asked, looking at the lucky student. Nagisa follows Karma and saw the turret gun up high in the ceiling. It was pure black and grey, Nagisa wondered why he didn’t notice something so dark, but thought that it blended well with the new color of the ceiling.

“Why is it there?” Sugino asks out of panic, at the same time, with curiosity.

“It must be a trap,” Nagisa automatically said before a familiar laugh sounded out from behind him. He looks behind to see Monokuma.

“Silly _girl_ ,” the bear emphasizes and walks to all of their fronts. “I can’t have my guests going into the wrong restrooms. Imagine a lady getting inside of a men’s bathroom and vice-versa. Wouldn’t that be em _bear_ rassing?” and then, the bear laughs afterwards at his own joke.

“But that would mean you’re killing your guests,” Sugino voices out. “And just for entering the wrong bathroom.”

“Eh? Are you hiding something Mr Robinhood? Perhaps you desperately wanted to take a peek in the ladies’ bathroom~.”

“No! Of course not!” Sugino protests, instantly flustered.

Nagisa frowns. The bear continues. “Whatever. I’m not interested in knowing your secret fetishes and dirty kinks, ‘cause I already know you after all!”

“Really?” Karma asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Absolutely! But anyways,” the bear started walking towards the table where the set of moonflowers is located. “I’m just here to tell you that this black bear is for the big boys, and this white bear is for the sweet chicks. Easy to remember, eh~?”

“Obviously,” Nagisa hears Sugino respond in a low hushed tone.

“Another thing. By those doors are gender-detecting sensors. So, try entering the girl’s bathroom and you’ll be dead in a second!”

Nagisa huffs and then looks at the bear. “We’ll carry on with our… search.”

Monokuma laughs again like Nagisa said something funny. The monochrome bear started walking towards the lobby. “Go ahead. The lobby needs to get cleaned up since some naughty _children_ -“ Sugino gulps “-wrecked the place. Have fun bastards.”

“Will do, Monobear, will do,” Karma answers with a playful salute, before starting to walk again.

Once the bear was away, they turned to their left where a long hallway is set, a long red carpet rolled flat on the ground. The walls have two different colors. The top part has a creamy color, while the bottom part is color brown. As Nagisa observed, he assumed the texture was pretty similar to wood. On either sides, each have a small rectangular table, with a single flower vase and a fake bouquet of moonflowers. But on either sides of the tables have two armchairs like the ones at the lobby. Across each sets, have a big and wide classy framed mirror. Right in the ceiling above, warm lights lit the whole hallway, aligned together in the middle making a straight line.

The three started to walk ahead.

Sugino had let out a sigh of relief. Karma looks at him with amusement while Nagisa focuses on the way.

“Thought I’d get in trouble after that,” Sugino murmurs, before focusing on the way.

Arriving at the end of the hallway, they have two ways to go to: the left hallway and right hallway. In front of them are elevator doors, but the buttons were clearly broken. What’s quite interesting is that there’s a ‘down’ button. On the left hallway are white double doors that have circular windows on it. On the wall was a sign that said ‘Accounting Department’ in a black color outlined with gold. Whether it was locked or not, he didn’t check on it.

So he turns on his right. On the right hallway, there was a big open space. Located in the big space is a wide display of pastries, five large vending machines and another display shelf of folded t-shirts, mugs, keychains, pins and more. But the display shelf was made of glass which didn’t allow them to touch the items in the display. The three of them saw the toxicologist standing in front of a vending machine.

“Hey there Okuda-san,” Sugino greets.

Catching the attention of the small girl who jumped slightly at their voice, they were all greeted with a nervous nod.

“What did you find here?” Sugino asks kindly, hoping that his voice was gentle enough to receive an answer from her.

“It’s…” she pauses before fiddling with her fingers. “It’s something b-between a convenience store a-a-and a souvenir shop… uh, as I could tell by these items,” the toxicologist answers, motioning to the display shelf beside the vending machine. On the display hung a white t-shirt. Printed on it was the name of the hotel in a black fancy writing, outlined with the color of gold. On the background was a giant red King chess piece.

Sugino eyes it with disbelief. “The style’s pretty ugly, to be honest.”

“I know right?” Nagisa murmurs before looking at Okuda again. “What else?”

“Mmm… There seems to be n-no cash register… o-or something like that in here. T-to be able to get some item, erm, you have t-to s-swipe something in here,” she points to the thin rectangular hole on the vending machine in front of her. “I-it says ‘Insert Pass Card’. It’s… not looking for money… I suppose.”

“We don’t have pass cards,” Nagisa notes. “Are we supposed to have it?”

“Maybe,” Karma answers for him. Right in front of the redhead was a vending machine of beverages. He was looking directly at a juice box. “We _are_ the guests here. And if we want an item, we’re gonna have to swipe the pass card to get it.”

“I see,” Sugino follows. “The pass cards you’re talking about- it’s like a ticket to a concert, right?”

“Mhm,” Karma hums before turning around, letting the other boys examine the items in the supposedly called gift shop of Chesu Hotel. Right across the open shop was a wide rectangular 16x9 portrait of an attractive scenery. In the painting was a whole beach scene where the sun was reflecting on the gentle lapping waves. Nothing occupied the shore but coconut trees on the sides, and a small petite girl standing by the shore. Karma didn’t have a look clear on her face, especially since her face wasn’t literally painted on the painting. However, he did notice that her hair was the color of fresh grass and healthy vegetables.

“I wish I can get that energy drink,” Sugino sighs out as he stares at a specific bottle just behind Karma.

“Well, now that we know this is a… gift shop,” Nagisa starts and turns around to continue on their way. “Let’s start going around. We’re gonna go Okuda-san.”

Okuda nods and lets the three walk forward of the right hallway. After the big open space that was the gift shop, it didn’t take long to walk to get to the next huge room. Written on the door was ‘Function Room A’. Karma pushes the door open, and instantly, a strong aromatic scent entered their nostrils. What they were about to enter was the Function Room A of Chesu Hotel.

Nagisa’s mouth began to slowly drop as soon as he saw the whole Function Room. It almost made him forget that he was locked in a hotel to _kill_ a classmate. The ceiling was no longer black and white, but has a creamy color. The lights above formed layers of circles. The walls have this red color that was almost the same shade as Karma’s hair, but there are gold repetitive patterns as a design. The floor wasn’t carpeted, but instead, a marble floor that the lights reflected on it, making the floor look shiny and clean. Two large AC units were up on the wall, on and working.

There are square dining tables around covered in clean white cloth, and more chairs. On the dining tables are numerous plates with folded table napkins on top. Then there are silverwares (i.e. forks, spoons, knives, etc) laid neatly in a specific sequence. The glassware glinted under the lights, ready to be used. The one Nagisa caught was the long food table at the side of the function room. There are silver containers set on the long table, closed by matching silver lids. But that didn’t stop him from thinking that the food inside it are steamy and delicious.

Inside the function room was the Ultimate Inspector: Rinka Hayami.

“Hello there Hayami-san,” Nagisa greets as soon as their eyes met.

Afterwards, Sugino and Karma simultaneously headed to the dining table. Sugino began to open the first container, and his eyes widened. Karma followed the archer’s action and did the same to another container.

“Wow!” Sugino’s mouth watered before placing the lid back and opening another.

“Notice anything, Hayami-san?” Nagisa asks as he approaches the girl.

Hayami briefly looked at the two boys by the food table before nodding. “Yes. As you know, this is Function Room A.”

Nagisa looks around more, before locating double doors at the far corner of the room. Hayami continues. “I’ve checked that earlier, but Monokuma came and told me that guests are strictly forbidden to enter that room until he says so.”

“What do you think is inside there?” Nagisa questions.

“The kitchen,” Hayami answers. “Monokuma also told me that this is where we’ll be dining for meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner. I don’t know when we’ll be locked in here, but I’m certain that we have enough food to survive.”

“This looks so yummy,” Sugino said from his spot. Nagisa started to approach the archer. “Look Nagisa-kun! They’re like foods from all over the _world_!”

“Are you exaggerating?” Nagisa asks playfully before lifting a lid of a container. His eyes widened at the food inside.

Sugino chuckles. “Let’s try some!”

“Wait,” Nagisa began. “We’re not sure if this is poisonous, or something.”

“They’re not,” both the archer and the elementary tutor heard the lucky student speak confidently.

“What makes you so sure?” Nagisa asked.

“I believe Monobear sticks to his goals. He won’t kill us because he wants _us_ to kill each other. He won’t let his paws get dirty.”

“But don’t you remember what he did to Okano-san?” Sugino asks.

Karma clicked his tongue. “Of course. He only did that because he _has_ to. Okano-san was about to use violence against him. The act he did earlier was just a warning for us.”

Hayami studied the redhead with narrowed eyes. Even if the redhead seemed like a type of person she wouldn’t want to get physically involved with, she still agreed with what he said. He may have a simple talent, but in a particular situation, he releases a threatening vibe which obviously told anybody to keep their distance from him. As an Ultimate Inspector, Hayami had to be observant and collected. In her opinion, Karma proved to be observant as she is.

“Do anything stupid and reckless, and you might get _rewarded_ with a _punishment_.” _How ironic._

* * *

 

Both the Ultimate Pyro Technician and the Ultimate Helicopter Pilot decided to stay together and look for exits. Rio suggested they search for emergency exits since hotels normally have that, so they chose to walk further to see if they could find any exits. After turning to the right hallway, Okuda stayed at the open gift shop, Hayami entered the Function Room A, and Hazama chose to enter a room just across the Function Room A, which had a sign that says ‘Entertainment Lounge’. The two reached a point where they found one.

“Oh hey, there’s a fire exit!” Rio grabbed Terasaka’s attention immediately as soon as she saw the white door. In front, there was a red sign that said ‘FIRE EXIT’, all capitalized. The fire exit was just next to the entertainment lounge, so it was quite surprising that they’ve seen an exit quickly.

Terasaka looked at the exit as well before both of them simultaneously approached it.

“Finally!” Rio said. “Let’s open it.”

Terasaka was the first to grasp the long silver handle and started to push it. His eyebrows furrowed. He pushed further, but it didn’t open.

“Try pulling it,” Rio suggested.

Terasaka did with equal force he did previously, but it didn’t open. Rio scowled.

“It’s locked,” Monokuma popped behind them unexpectedly, which made Rio jump slightly. Terasaka scowled this time and banged on the door.

“Whatever you do, it won’t open. Throw a _chair_ on it won’t work either~.” Monokuma ended with an amused laugh, taunting the pyro technician.

Rio turns around to the bear and glared at it as she crosses her arms. Terasaka does the same, minus the crossed arms. “Who the hell would lock a fucking fire exit?”

“Upupupu~. Fire exits are only used for emergencies!”

Rio scoffs. “Emergencies, huh? You know, we can always light things up to create fire.”

“Young lady, _destruction of property_ is prohibited!” Monokuma yells. “Violate that rule, and you’ll be dealt with accordingly! I just gave you a chance earlier, y’know!” After his annoying exclamation, a space above Monokuma opened and a turret gun popped out like an upside-down Jack in the Box. The gun pointed at them.

Terasaka’s eyes widened together with Rio’s, both moving away from their spot.

“Don’t worry guys. You’re safe.” Coming from a monochrome bear who locked them inside a hotel just to kill a person, it didn’t count as a reassurance. “These babies will only shoot you when you break the rules!”

“We don’t even know what your freaking rules are!” Rio yelled.

“Well, that’ll be fixed later. What I’ll tell you right now is that lighting up shit here will only waste your precious time thanks to my sprinkler,” Monokuma said before turning around and beginning to walk away from the two talented students. Just as he began to walk away, the turret gun ascended from its place, and the space above was closed.

Rio and Terasaka looked at each other before scowling in union. "Fucking teddy bears."

* * *

 

“This is supposed to be the Accounting Department, huh?” the Ultimate Surfer voiced out as she looks ahead of the hallway. It didn’t look different from the previous hallway she walked on before. She saw the same sets again and thought that there were just too many chairs and tables for her to see in one day, especially the fake moonflowers. The Ultimate Linguist walked with her side by side, approaching the nearest door to them. The Ultimate Gymnast and the Ultimate Art Prodigy followed behind, approaching the next door they see.

The room Megu and Gakushuu entered was an office. It was just like what Megu expected an office should be, minus the cubicles. There are three desks and three office chairs inside the office. On the left side of the room, a big and wide pinboard with multiple papers pinned on it was located. It practically covered the whole wall. There are stacks of folders, binders, and more papers on each desks like the hotel was full and active. There was even a coffee machine located across the room, along with a water dispenser and a small table with disposable cups on top. And just beside that small table was a trash bin. Across the room, there was a closed door that lead somewhere.

Megu headed to the desks and Gakushuu went in front of the pinboard.

Megu began opening the drawers of the desk she had approached and found numerous writing materials inside. She continued pulling open more drawers and was quite weirded out that the second drawer contained a hammer, a pair of shiny sharp scissors and a wrench. The third drawer contained numerous nails and screws, which didn’t make any sense at all considering this is an office and not some kind of warehouse.

“Did you find anything, Kataoka-san?” Gakushuu asks, violets eyes scanning a pinned paper.

“Uh, not really,” Megu answered with uncertainty. “I found a hammer, a pair of scissors, a wrench and some nails in these drawers.”

Gakushuu’s eyebrows furrowed and turned around to check out what Megu found. Megu sighs as she stands up straight. “Monokuma’s doing, I guess. There’s no use for a hammer here, unless…” Megu trails off, not wanting to mention the word ‘kill’. “How about you?” she asks the linguist. “Found anything?”

Gakushuu sighs and turns back to the pinboard. “Yes. But it’s very odd.”

“What’s odd?” Megu asks and turns to the pinboard as well. She tries to read the first paper her eyes lands on and then her eyes widens afterward. Her eyebrows furrowed. “What’s this?”

“It’s an article written in LEET.”

Megu looks at Gakushuu. “Do you understand this?”

“Of course,” Gakushuu answered automatically. “I am the Ultimate Linguist, after all.”

“So what’s in the article?” the surfer questioned. “I have no idea how this even works.” She examined the other papers as well, and all she sees are symbols and numbers.

“Hm. It says here,” his index finger points at the top line. “...The Worst Most Despair-Inducing Incident in-“

“-the History of Hope’s Peak.”

Both Gakushuu and Megu looked over their shoulders to see Monokuma standing on the desk.

“What’re _you_ doing here?” Megu asks bitterly and started glaring at the bear.

“Well, I _am_ the hotel owner here. I’m just here to make sure you don’t wreck the place like those bastards earlier.”

“Why don’t you waste your time eating honey or something,” Megu suggested hastily before urging Gakushuu to read the article once more.

“Yeeesh. Just because I’m a bear, doesn’t mean I eat honey.” Annoyance was present in Monokuma’s tone.

“Kataoka-san,” Gakushuu called. “The whole HPA student council was murdered.”

“What?” eyebrows furrowed once again, in confusion. “Murdered? The whole student council?”

“Are you responsible for this, Monokuma?” Gakushuu asked, turning to the bear behind them.

“Upupupu~ what _this,_ Asano-kun~?”

“The murder.”

“Oh~ _that_ went like _crazy_ when the news scattered. But the headmaster was so selfish, he didn’t even tell the others that he already had one suspect.”

“One suspect?” Megu had voiced out. There are just too many questions in her head right now and just seeing the bear in front of her is already enough to deal with.

Gakushuu turns back to the article to continue reading. He had to know the whole story before he could even land a foot on the campus. That is, if they get out of the hotel.

* * *

 

Okano and Sugaya approached a door just near the one Gakushuu and Megu entered. At first, the room was dark yet the AC unit was on. Sugaya searched for the switch and found it. Turning the lights on, the acrobat and the art prodigy saw three computers across the room, set on one long desk that had mugs of writing materials on it, empty notepads, three keyboards and three mouse pads with a mouse on each of it. Three office chairs were set in front of the computers. On the right side of the room, there are silver file cabinets. The same goes for the left side.

Okano approached the computers with Sugaya.

“Maybe this can help us out,” Okano said and took a seat on one of the computers.

“You’re right,” Sugaya responded and looked for the CPU, which was underneath the desk. Turning it on, the computer quickly lit up unexpectedly. On the screen, Monokuma appeared in pixelated form before zooming in. As soon as he did, the screen became white for a moment before it showed icons on it.

Sugaya and Okano looked at each other for a moment then back at the screen. Okano grabbed the mouse. Dragging the arrow to click the File Explorer icon, Okano had this small feeling of hope before slightly smiling. On the screen showed numerous files, but the filenames were… quite confusing and foreign.

“The hell???”

“Is Monokuma playing with us?” Okano voiced out before clicking a random one. Instead of opening the file successfully, a text box came out, asking for a password.

“Argh!” Both the acrobat and the art prodigy groaned. “Of course,” Sugaya sighs out. “It won’t be easy.”

“Well,” Okano started. “We can call Asano-kun to translate this. Maybe the filename can give us a hint of what's inside the file.”

Sugaya frowned slightly. “Yeah, but look at it. It’s not like it’s in a different language. It looks like a bunch of numbers and symbols put on.”

The one they clicked was named like this: **\\\// <(\\)71|_@71<>(\\)   ** **$%$1 <^^**

Of course, they didn’t understand. It even had a currency, which didn’t make sense at all. Whatever it is, it might be important.

* * *

 

Hazama entered the Entertainment Lounge just across the Function Room A. She thought it would be a quiet lounge, but apparently, it isn’t. There was a song playing in the air, foreign at that. The song was Korean, but the librarian didn’t know that. She observed the whole room. The lights were quite brighter here. Two AC units are attached up high on the wall similar to the style of the function room A. she saw four arcade machines on the left side, next to each other. They’re all closed though. And even if she wanted to open it (which she doesn’t), she needed a pass card. On the right side, there are two Dance Dance Revolution machines, waiting to be played. In the middle, there are couches, a vase of moonflowers on coffee tables, two gumball machines (which required a pass card once again) and a small shelf of… pocket books.

The one that Hazama got interested to was the thick novel that was out of place from the shelf of thin pocket books. Looking at the cover, she discovered that the writer was none other than the famous Ultimate Literary Girl.

She looked around once again and found a door just near the DDR machines. In fact, this door was at the right corner. Heading towards it, she opened the door, only to find the familiar place she had been to. On the other side of the door are the restrooms and the entrance way to the lobby. Deciding to go back to the lobby, she closed the door behind her and headed to the lobby, sitting down on one of the chairs. The people remaining in the lobby noticed her presence.

“Hazama-san,” Kayano acknowledged her presence. Hazama nodded and flipped open the book.

“Aren’t you going to continue looking around?” Okajima asked.

“No,” Hazama simply answered.

A sickening silence laid around the lobby before Hazama decides to cut it. “Go check around. I’ll guard her.”

The cinematographer, the paramedic and the sweet connoisseur looked at each other then back to the zoologist, who was unconscious on an armchair. With a long hesitation, Okajima, Takebayashi and Kayano nodded at each other before heading off into the hallway. Hazama released a sigh and stood up. Taking a seat on the chair just next to the zoologist, she proceeded to read.

Hazama’s waiting patiently on her seat for the others to return. Gakushuu and Megu will understand this. At least they have more people trying to cover the whole floor. It would take a long time to look around the ground floor of Chesu Hotel. 

* * *

 

_Upupupu! Here I am, just watching those bastards look around like this is their own home. Pfft! How pathetic and desperate they must be. I mean, some of them still thinks this is all some sort of joke. Bullshit. Full of fucking bullshit.There’s no way this can be a joke because it’s too funny to be one! Puhuhuhuhu! Sigh, I can’t wait to see a murder take place. Causing despair to the person they killed and the killer themselves- it’s so arousing~! Just seeing the looks on their face once they’ve realized they just killed a living creature is such a turn on. I can’t wait to see how the victim looks like once they see their killer. Upupupu- now, why am I here again? I don't really give a shit about what you think even if I'm breaking the fourth wall. I'm here to roll the dice. Let's see our first number!!!_

_*Drum rolls!!!*_

_*Horn blows!!!*_

**_6_ **

**Author's Note:**

> This will be in a slow progress since I'm /still/ planning the whole plot out. And since that's the case, I'll be leaving this as a complete story. Once I start the official first chapter, this will be a story in progress. I would have to do my best in updating this and I'll assure you, I will continue this. Be reminded that the characters in here would be slightly out of character but I will do my best to make their characterization appealing and interesting. To tell you the truth, picking out a limited number of characters in Assassination Classroom is very hard, because I have to learn their personalities and hobbies just to choose talents for them. But I did manage.
> 
> If you don't know Danganronpa then check that out. If you don't know Assassination Classroom, check that out as well. They're both quite similar but different at the same time. Danganronpa is a mutual killing game between a class and they have to kill a student and not get caught in the class trial. Assassination Classroom is almost like the former, but their target is their teacher.
> 
> Fun Fact: the director of Danganronpa: The Animation and Assassination Classroom are the same.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this. Stay tuned for the next chapter. :)


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